A story that happened to Shaykh Al-Albani with a man from Damascus regarding photography, and a warning against imitating the disbelieving West.

The Shaykh : But now, many people have fallen into this kind of superficiality. I say that regarding images in the modern era, it is a modern superficiality. Here is an example:
Once, a young man from Damascus accompanied me, just as I am. I was in Aleppo, and I had an old car there that I used, traveling from Damascus to Aleppo to Latakia. When he learned that I was returning from Aleppo to Damascus, he offered to ride with me. I told him, "There is no objection," and I knew him from before. What do we need to do with a four-hundred-kilometer road? We naturally have to cover it with religious hadiths. The topic of images, specifically photographic images, came up.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Our companion’s appearance was that of a man who had heard some contemporary scholars say, "My brother, there is nothing wrong with these photographic images; they are merely the trapping of a shadow." At that moment, Allah inspired me with the following example, and I presented it as a realistic scenario in the style of the hadith of Ibn 'Amr. But I said: "It is claimed that a noble Shaykh visited a student of his at his home. When the Shaykh sat down, his gaze fell upon his own picture in a prominent place. He advised his student and said to him: 'So-and-so, I know you are a righteous, religious man. You know that images are forbidden, .' He said to him: 'I swear to you, my master, this is out of love for you.' He said to him: 'No, no, this will not do. This is the beginning of polytheism, starting from here.' The student did nothing but immediately take down the picture. Days passed and days came, and the matter became a thing of the past. The Shaykh visited the student again. He looked in and found the picture in its place. He said to him: 'Do you remember the day I came and rebuked you, and you—may Allah bless you—responded to me and quickly did what? You took down the picture.' He said to him: 'Yes, my master, but I understood from you that hand-drawn images are the forbidden ones, and that one was a hand-drawn image. As for this one, it is a photographic image. We learned from you that photographic images are permissible.' He said to him: 'May Allah bless you, you are a jurist!'"
It is the same image, the same image, but the difference is that one is hand-drawn and this one is photographic. It is modern superficiality... Therefore, do not be deceived by sweet-sounding statements as long as the Shari'ah texts are explicit in covering these images, . Whoever takes an image with this machine or that one, including video, and this is even more so , every image in the house prevents the angels from entering, except for what is excluded. And what is excluded? Pictures of children, girls' toys. But not the toys of today that come to us from Europe, which carry within them the indecency of Europe, and we bring them into our homes under the pretext that the Messenger saw 'Aishah's toys and approved of them for her. Rather, her female neighbors used to sneak them to her. Those were household images, having a benefit related to what is called today home management. As for these images that come to us from the West, they are, first, of no benefit other than distraction. Then you might find such a cabinet. I remember, by Allah, once I visited the Emirates, and especially Abu Dhabi, and some of our brothers there are Salafis. But when I entered his house, I was astonished. How many idols of a girl can this room hold? It means a girl of slave stature running around, a plastic idol. What is this? He said: "These are girls' toys!"
So, glory be to Allah, now Muslims are in danger from this European invasion in what they call Western civilization. Therefore, safety is as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , .
So we ask Allah (Mighty and Majestic) to teach us the Sunnah of our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and to inspire us to act upon it; because many people know but do not act, so the saying of the Lord of the Worlds applies to them: .